Graicus
Graicus of Anvil ''was an Imperial gladiator that has fought in several Arenas across Tamriel. He was a strong, reliable figure with a rugged streak. After he fled the Laumer invasion of the city of Tear in Morrowind he fell in with Marrinthus Thiel and his Alliance Against Morgus that set out to stop Morgus Immundus, a vampire that terrorized the world in the early years of the 5th era. Now a pawn of the Daedric Prince Hircine who has trapped him in the form of a large feral bear. Biography Graicus was the second son of a peasant family, born in the Cyrodilic city of Anvil on the 8th of Last Seed, 275 4E. As the son of a stevedor and a stay-at-home mother, his prospects in life were never too great. Neither Graicus or his elder brother, Nemicus were particularly keen on stepping in their father's footsteps and take on such low-paying, mundane labor at the port, instead; most of their youth they'd be out in the city getting into all sorts of trouble. Due to the rough nature of their upbringing both brothers quickly learned that violence and defending oneself were parts of every day life. When Graicus turned eighteen he left his life of poor prospects behind and joined the Imperial Legion. Joining the Imperial legion In the Legion Graicus felt quite at home. His rebellious tendencies were ironed out with hard training and discipline but like with most enlisted men, never entirely. For the first time in his life he got three meals a day and a decent living wage, compared to his life in Anvil. He became handy with weapons, the Imperial short sword or Gladius in particular but remained a generally poor marksmen when it came to ranged weaponry such as the bow and arrow or crossbows, he did however excel in throwing knives oddly enough. It was in the legion that he also properly met Pavo. Pavo was a fellow peasant from Anvil, and their paths had crossed several times before but now that they served in the legion together they became fast friends. For example; Both imperials liked playing pranks on those that though themselves too high and mighty and would try taking them down a peg. Graicus wished he could have been as brash and inventive as Pavo and Pavo wished he could have been as subtle or unassuming as Graicus when it came to dishing out boffola as it were. It didn't come as a surprise then that it was usually Pavo that got in trouble, but Graicus would always be there to defend his friend or share in their punishment. The relationship instantly clicked despite their very different temperaments. Perhaps that was why; not too alike nor too dissimilar, just two poor lads from Anvil. The Karth War In the year 293 of the fourth era, after two months of training in a military fort in the northeastern hills of Colovia the garrison was sent to deal with the Forsworn threat that terrorized the Reach, savage wildmen that lived in the mountains and caves of the area that expanded out across Skyrim, High Rock and Hammerfell. They had taken advantage of the empire's weakened position in the region and claimed large swathes of land as their own, slaughtering innocent farmers in their homes and burning whatever they deemed signs of foreign imperialism. For seven years Graicus fought in the conflict that engulfed the region. It was characterized by its bloody campaigns for little gains, especially after the initial months of the war. Because of the nature of the forsworn and their land they fought very little in open battles. Things quickly turned into a guerrilla war with raids, ambushes, trenches, tunnels and attrition. It was enough to make one mad. And many Imperial soldiers did suffer under the psychological strain the war had caused. Indeed the almost constant stress put on the legion throughout the conflict made many go crazy. Those who did not snap became hardened in a way not many had been; Graicus was one such person. Making friends or even getting to know new arriving recruits became a fruitless endeavor, for whoever it was, they might be dead that next month. Instead, people desperately clung to small comforts and existing friendships. Pavo and Graicus helped each other out and formed a bond that only soldiers would understand. On leave in Bruma In the first year of the war the morale was still quite good and with the first initial months having been nothing but sound victories for the legion the troops were given well deserved leave in the border city of Bruma in the month of Morning Star. Far away from the battlefield and a Markarth that was in ruins and the process of rebuilding. Here Pavo met Mirella, the daughter of a banker in town with whom he had subsequently, a secret romance. Her father was not a worshiper of Dibella and lived by the old traditional values of Mara and thus, would not approve; certainly not with a reckless young legionnaire of low birth that would be called back to war. Graicus was happy for his friend of course. Seeing Pavo happy made Graicus happy but he was nowhere near as Gladiator at the Arena After his life is the Legion, Graicus was left rather aimless, but he was quickly offered the chance to fight for money in the Arena. Considering that was the only thing he was really any good at, he agreed and was subsequently tossed in a life of relative fame and blood sport. He's adept at Imperial wrestling techniques, boxing and some Morrowindian Martial Arts. His weapon of choice is the Imperial Gladius or Short Sword. A weapon he learned to use well as a soldier. - - The Darkest Night Meeting the alliance against Morgus In the year 7 5E, Graicus had recently fled the city of Tear when word reached of the Laumer invasion of Morrowind. The gladiator loaded his possessions onto a cart and pulled it across the Deshaan region, all the way to Cyrodiil. However, just outside the town of Cheydinhal beyond the border one of the cart's wheels broke. It was then that he met Marrinthus Thiel and his posse; existing of Frasella, a reachwoman who had to flee her own kind, Kyris, a bosmer herbalist with a shop in Riften, Virde, a pragmatic necromancer who's supposed to be over five hundred years old, Virde's talking cat, Yenith, a forest nymph which they crossed paths with and Alvoran, a seemingly average young Nord adventurer. They was passing through; racing to save Marr's son, Tomas and the children of Riften from the vampire lord, Morgus Immundus. Graicus was willing to help, upon hearing the quest involved saving kidnapped children. They had apparently been taken by mercenaries during the town's North Wind's Prayer festival the day before. After having hidden his possessions from view in the bushes by the road he and the others made their way to castle Duncroft, located somewhere nearby Cheydinhal between the Nibeney Basin and the Valus mountains. The alliance had learned of its location previously from one of the captured mercenaries in Riften whom had been interrogated by Moira, a cryomancer that was also aiding Marr. Moira had gone ahead during the chase and arrived at the castle beforehand. This however did nothing to stop the truly horrible from happening. After discovering a cavernous system below the castle they found the children primed for a sacrificial ritual orchestrated by Morgus. With the aid of a dark scepter he extracted the life essence of the young whilst the heroes were powerless to stop him. Marr lost Tomas right before his eyes and all hell broke loose. Unable to defeat the vampire's large army of mercenaries they were forced to flee. Defeated and beset by mercenaries and lesser vampiric corpses the fellowship rode as fast they could back to the city of Cheydinhal. It was here that they were aided in their escape by Shrava, a destruction magic wielding khajiit who promptly burned the chasing demonspawn away so they could make it there safely. Graicus did have to leave his possessions from the cart behind in their dash towards town. New plans As the members of the fellowship were licking their wounds and speculating on what to do next in the wake of this staggering defeat Shrava found a clue in an old book down at the local library: Morgus used to own a manor somewhere north from the city of Kvatch. Meanwhile Graicus had started to get to know the others of this curious party, Alvoran in particular since they had to share a room at the tavern for the night. They had to sleep on haystacks, beds were hard to come by in a city so filled to the brim with refugees from the Laumer invasion of Morrowind. The following morning they set out to look for a way to defeat Morgus at the manor north of Kvatch, so he could not cause any more pain than he already had. Before they could leave however a mysterious young Nord, wearing what appeared to be the robes of a dragon priest and a curious mask tied to his belt, approached with the desire to join them. Moira informed them she had saved him from the treacherously cold mountain pass between Skyrim and Cyrodiil the night she had gone on ahead. The lad was a timid and nameless amnesiac that didn't really impress Graicus much with their first impression. After riding several days they reach the West Weald, Cyrodiil's wine country that enjoys very mild winters. Here they set up camp like any other day before but it was Graicus that provided the firewood and some wine for the night. Earlier however, he had learned Frasella to be a reachwoman, causing him to avoid her. His military history in the reach had complicated matters. Not long after they had set up camp they were attacked by strangers in dark robes, similar in design as the one that the amnesiac wore. The ambush appeared to be a kidnap attempt. While most of the fellowship were forced to defend themselves from the cultist assailants, others managed to carry off the nameless Nord into a nearby vineyard. Before Graicus and the others could catch up a terrible lightning strike shot down from the heavens where the kidnappers had taken their target. The amnesiac lay unharmed in the middle of a smoldering crater with his assailants charred to a crisp and that curious mask in his lap. He claimed they were trying to put the mask on him so he panicked and lashed out. In the aftermath of the attack Virde rose some of the assailants back from the dead which made most of the party uncomfortable; necromancy being generally frowned upon. The necromancer didn't see the problem exactly though, saying they could serve as excellent guard dogs for any more ambushes. Graicus proposed that they should find a name for their amnesiac. It had been days and they still had nothing to call him. The silly name 'Sparky' was offered in reference to his shocking abilities, which was to the great displeasure of the nameless Nord. Graicus didn't stop teasing him with it however, being of the mindset that such trivial matters shouldn't get to you and claiming that in the legion stupid nicknames were something you had to live with. He was eventually told off by the others when they settled down for the night. The Arena of Kvatch They arrived in Kvatch the following evening. Marrinthus would've preferred to ride on ahead but he could recognise they didn't know where Morgus' manor was exactly and that trying to find it at night would be a fools errand. They would spend the night in the city after days of traveling on the road. The group agreed to meet back at the gates the next morning and were free to find something to occupy themselves with in the city. Graicus, being a gladiator, almost immediately felt drawn to visit Kvatch's famous arena. With Alvoran in toe he arrived to discover that it was 'amateur night' with quite a decent sum of prize money up for grabs. After a little convincing the Gladiator got Alvoran's permission to have both of them enter for a short bout in an effort to claim that prize money, considering it could be useful later on in their quest. That night both of them would fight several other opponents in the arena with Alvoran experiencing his first battle as a fighter. The Nord had gone in first and defeated an average Imperial swordsman named Vassus. His next opponent, a Redguard mage named B'alma proved to be more of a challenge. She would've killed Alvoran too were it not for Graicus saving him at the last second turning the battle into a two versus two, with a Dark Elf bladedancer becoming B'alma's battle companion. Ultimately the Imperial gladiator and the Nord adventurer prevailed and they would be rewarded for the spectacle they had provided for the arena that night. Graicus and Alvoran would spend the rest of the night soaking in the warm marble tile baths with beautiful masseuses there to ''comfort them. Graicus seemed to think it was only normal and let himself enjoy it to the full but Alvoran underwent the proceedings with pangs of doubt. Ultimately, the next morning he would decide that this was not a life he wanted. Embarrassed by what he had done, or rather, by what he had allowed to happen to him, he got up and went to look for the manager to get their money and leave. Proving himself to Graicus was not worth giving up what felt was the right way to do things. Graicus meanwhile was down in the bloodworks, training when he met a feisty bosmer arena fighter by the name of Mirora. She had seen him and Alvoran fight last night and taken a liking to them. Graicus was a bit hesitant to talk to this stranger that had taken a keen interest into him. Alvoran on the other hand, in his eagerness to be done with the arena bungled the negotiation with the manager and insulted the man at every turn, resulting in the prize money becoming forfeit. Once Graicus arrived it was already too late to smooth things over and they were asked in no uncertain terms to leave. This upset Graicus greatly -- to the point he would distance himself from Alvoran for a bit, out of fear he might do something stupid. This allowed Mirora to seemingly join the alliance against Morgus with little resistance now that the gladiator was too busy fuming to say 'no' to her. The manor in the dark With the alliance regrouped by the city gates they would set out to the Gottshaw Inn on recommendation of Graicus, whom posed that the proprietor might know the location of the old Immundus Manor in the area. Kyris meanwhile made her worries about Marrinthus' health clear. The half-elf had barely slept since Cheydinhal and would refuse to rest, believing he ought to focus on catching Morgus. Graicus along with some of the other members of the fellowship agreed that Marrinthus would have to stay behind at the inn when they would start looking for the manor which the half-elf dismissed as pure nonsense. Once they arrived at the Gottshaw Inn and asked the innkeeper if he knew of any manor in the area however they were met with mere shrugs and apologies. The good man did not know of any such place let alone that it ever existed in the first place, which struck some of the party as odd. Before the alliance left however, Kyris would try to get Marrinthus a room to rest in which the half-elf adamantly refused. Graicus tried to restrain Marrinthus so the Bosmer herbalist could provide the half-elf with a sleeping potion but he escaped and fled. Despite the fact that Marrinthus was running on naught but the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins he was surprisingly quick as he ran into the woods. Graicus and the others initiated a chase in an effort to stop him from doing something stupid. They were all awestruck when they found Marrinthus standing still in what appeared to be a misty, lifeless grove. Somehow, in the chase, they had entered a plane of existence hidden from the normal world, and it was here that the Immundus Manor stood. Paradoxically, behind them, in the direction from which they had come. With their new predicament the attempt to make Marrinthus go to sleep was put on hold for the time being now that they had a Manor to comb over, to look for clues. After an attack by animated suits of armor the alliance found documents written by Morgus revealing how he contracted vampirism and was on a quest to discover Apocrypha, the plane of Oblivion lorded over by Hermaeus Mora, daedric prince of knowledge and memory. In these writings Morgus tells of an artifact he found in the possession of a peculiar merchant in the nearby city of Skingrad. With this statue in hand it should've been possible to open a portal to Oblivion. Morgus didn't find passage to Apocrypha however. Instead the portal brought him to another place entirely. Incidentally, the fellowship discovered the statue and portal which they used to escape the manor in the dark dimension. Meridia's champion Back in the real world a next course of action was planned. They needed the aid of a Daedra. Before anything was settled Graicus confronted Marrinthus once more about his unhealthy seemingly self-imposed insomnia and ordered him to rest. Marrinthus once more refused and another altercation broke out. This time however the half-elf could not get away and he was sedated with the help of Alvoran and Kyris. (more to be added) Hircine's curse At the end of their quest, Graicus was transformed into a hulking great bear by the Daedric Prince of the Hunt, Hircine. This was due to the gladiator's corruption caused by him possessing the Spear of Hircine. The Daedra Wars On the run (more to be added) Personality Graicus is disciplined and straight forward, but not entirely humorless. He appreciates strength of any kind, be it in character or physical prowess and generally can't stand what he considers cowardice. He's relatively quiet and doesn't like to speak when he has nothing to say. Generally when he does say something he is not afraid to speak his mind. Because of his stature and massive build he isn't frightened or intimidated easily, in fact it generally goes the other way around, whether he means to or not. Graicus is also sometimes considered cold and distant because most of the times when he does speak it is to point out a problem rather than to issue a complement, nevertheless he has a soft spot he rarely shows. The imperial gladiator has a sense of humor he largely keeps to himself. embarrassing others for his personal amusement. Some might consider it mean-spirited but Graicus generally likes to tackle people that are full of themselves or fussy over something that really shouldn't matter. Because of his military history in the reach and the brutality experienced by the locals, Graicus is not keen on reachfolk. He prefers to distance himself from them because he knows he can be prone to do something stupid if they do something he considers an affront. He's somewhat aware of his bigotry yet he simply can't shake it. He rather not take chances than to find himself at the end of their blade. Graicus tries to keep a lid on his anger and largely succeeds. He know that if he snaps he is a dangerous man with very little to stop him. He uses his bouts in the arena as catharsis to release that anger. Appearances The Legend of Nirn: The Darkest Night: * Chapter II * Chapter III * Chapter IV * Chapter V * Chapter VI * Chapter VII * Chapter VIII * Chapter IX * Chapter X * Chapter XI * Chapter XII * Chapter XIII * Chapter XIV * Chapter XV * Chapter XVI * Chapter XVII * Chapter XVIII * Chapter XIX * Chapter XX * Chapter XXI * Chapter XXII * Chapter XXIII * Chapter XXIV * Chapter XXV * Chapter XXVI (Graicus meets Nohaden'Cade) * Chapter XXVII * Chapter XXVIII * Chapter XXIX * Chapter XXX * Chapter XXXI * Chapter XXXII * Chapter XXXIII * Chapter XXXIV * Chapter XXXV * Chapter XXXVI * Chapter XXXVII * Chapter XXXVIII * Chapter XXXIX * Chapter XL * Chapter XLI * Chapter XLII * Chapter XLIII * Chapter XLIV * Chapter XLV * Chapter XLVI * Chapter XLVII * Chapter XLVIII * Chapter XLIX (ending & epilogue) The Legend of Nirn: The Daedra Wars * Chapter II * Chapter XII Category:The Legend of Nirn Category:The Darkest Night Category:Characters Category:Imperials Category:Males Category:Golden Ash Yam Victors Category:The Daedra Wars